The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has introduced a circular last night (14 September) preventing the purchase of vehicles on a 100 per cent or ‘Full Lease’ or ‘Hire Purchase’ basis without any initial down payments, in a bid to reduce the number of vehicles on Sri Lanka’s roads.

A senior official from the CBSL said that according to this circular, lease facilities could be obtained only on 70 per cent of the value of the vehicle being purchased. The balance 30 per cent has to be paid by the buyer of the vehicle, added the official.

“At present, any vehicle could be purchased on a full lease basis even without a single cent in hand. However, under this circular lease facilities could be obtained only on 70 per cent of the vehicle’s value,” he reiterated.

Currently a large number of vehicles are being imported into Sri Lanka and traffic congestion has become a common feature.